Pooh Climbs the Tallest Tree

Pooh Climbs the Tallest Tree.

For Rhona - Thank You

            Deep in The Hundred Acre Woods, Pooh Bear tucked himself into bed with a tummy full of hunny and a smile on his face. As any bear would, he recounted the day’s adventures as he slowly drifted off to sleep and he was truly thankful for his friends and the day of fun adventures they had had together. Pooh sighed contentedly, yawned with a satisfying stretch and fell into a deep slumber full of hunny-filled dreams.

            The following day was a Monday and he was off on a new adventure; an adventure to find his friends. He had been to each of their houses in turn and nobody was home, which Pooh thought was very peculiar indeed. Pooh, being a very clever bear had a plan to find them. “Oh, bother”, Pooh exclaimed as he bumped his head on the branch of the tree. He was climbing this particular tree because you could see the whole of The Hundred Acre Woods from it. As he climbed higher, he hummed a little song to himself for he was a very happy, if somewhat clumsy, bear.

                                                “Hum diddly hum do

                                                What shall I doooo?

                                                Hum diddle hum dee doo.”

            Being a bear of very little brain, who had no time for big words or difficult to climb trees, Pooh stopped half-way on his climb and simply sat on the branch. “Oh, bother”, he sighed and put his head in his hands. He thought about his friends and wondered why none of them were home, then he thought about his empty tummy and wondered where all the hunny was hiding. “Oh, bother”. How he longed for some hunny and some company. Owl would know where to find some. Owl was very clever after all. But Owl was not at home and this is why Pooh was climbing the tree.

            It seemed to Pooh that to be very high up, like the trees, in the woods was much better than being a small bear on the ground when trying to find your friends, but it didn’t seem to be very safe and Pooh was a little bit scared. “Oh, bother”, he said again as he continued on his climb. Perhaps, Pooh thought, he would find some hunny on his way up the tree and wouldn’t that be something. It is always better to start an adventure to find your friends on a full tummy. Pooh hummed another tune to rally himself along and in what seemed like several days of starving, he reached the top of the tallest tree in The Hundred Acre Woods. Pooh might have noticed the achievement, had he not been such a hungry bear. That’s often the way.

            He looked this way and that. He looked the other way. He looked over here and he looked over there but it was no use. He could simply not find his friends. “Oh, bother”, he cried, for it is one thing to be hungry but it is quite another to have lost your friends. Pooh was hit with an overwhelming sadness and began to cry, “Oh, bother. Oh, bother”, over and over for he could not find it in him to hum a tune. Pooh was stuck in the tree for what seemed like an eternity and he felt very alone and very, very hungry. He was beginning to get very annoyed with his rumbling tummy and himself for climbing a very tall tree and losing all of his friends. Perhaps, he thought, they were all having a party somewhere without him? That was a very sad thought and Pooh started to cry.

            “Hullooooo?” came a voice from somewhere underneath him. What a funny thing for the tree to be saying to him, he thought. He heard again, “Hulloooo?”. Pooh scratched his head in confusion. “Pooh, are you coming down from there?” He touched his hand to his head and thought so hard that it tired him out so much he nearly fell out of the tree. Perhaps, thought Pooh, the tree had some hunny for him after all?

            “Hullooo”, he called back down, to the tree, “Do you have any hunny down there? Perhaps just a little morsel?”

“I don’t have any morsels, but please come down, Pooh.”

            “Oh, bother”, Pooh thought again. He decided he should go down and investigate but he was now a very hungry and grumpy bear, with no friends and was talking to a tree. This was not a good day for Pooh. He was a very lonely bear. Pooh did not feel very much like Pooh Bear at all today and this was very troubling for him.

            As he got nearer to the bottom of the tree, he saw a gathering of people. The lower he got, the clearer the picture became. Though he was still a very hungry bear, he felt much happier because he could see Christopher Robin and Piglet with all of their friends; even Rabbit.

“Oh, bother. Christopher Robin, I thought I’d never find you and I’m so very hungry.”

“Silly Old Bear! We came to find you but you’d gone already, off on your own adventure. Silly Old Bear, company is always better on adventures. Let’s go together. I have a pot of hunny here just for you!”

“Oh!” Pooh was so overcome with joy that he began to hum another tune.

“Hum dee do dah

Hunny in my tummy

Friends by my side

Hum dee dah doo

An adventure begins today.”

            With a few good friends, adventures are much more exciting and filled with hunny. Pooh was so very glad to have his friends around him on an adventure that he jumped in puddles and gave Christopher Robin the biggest hug he could manage with his small arms. “Oh, thank you, Christopher Robin. I don’t know what I would do without you! I was so lonely and lost and hungry and there you came to save me!” Just saying thank you did not seem to be enough to Pooh though the two words were bulging with such feeling and so Pooh did the only thing he could to show his gratitude – he shared his pot of hunny with Christopher Robin.

The End.